The Labor Minister An Kyung-duk met with business leaders on Wednesday and requested that firms expand their work from home policies amid the pandemic.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, An visited the Korea Federation of SMEs and the Korea Enterprises Federation in the morning and met with their chairmen Kim Ki-mun and Sohn Kyung-shik.

During the talks, the minister stressed the importance of remote working and social distancing in light of the virus resurgence. 

He cited studies that found no difference or improved productivity among many companies whose employees worked from home this year. An promised government support for firms that actively introduce such policies. 

In a government survey of 620 businesses that adopted telecommuting, 75 percent said they plan to continue it at the current level or in a scaled back manner even after the pandemic ends.

Sohn called for labor laws and regulations to be revised to boost flexibility in work hours and format.